Pentre Ifan, Wales

3500 BC

The largest, best-preserved Neolithic burial chamber in Wales is found in the Preseli Hills.

James Bedding writes: "Scattered with hill forts, cairns, stone circles, cromlechs, standing stones, burial chambers and tumuli, the lonely Preselis seem almost weighed down under the encrustations of millennia of history and prehistory. As I explored the hills - driving along the narrow twisting lanes that coil around the lower slopes, picking out indistinct footpaths among heather and rocks to the summit - I found many of the stones had attracted local legends; others barely needed tall tales to cast a spell. Pentre Ifan was perhaps my favourite: a dolmen with a 17ft long capstone said to weigh more than 17 tons. The opening was probably the entrance to a 120ft long communal burial cairn - you can still make out the outline."